The Midnight Averna Smash cocktail is perfect for summer.

I’m a huge fan of bitter Italian digestivis–Campari, Aperol, Fernet Branca, you name it. if it’s got a bitter finish I’m all. over. it.

If you share my enthusiasm for these liqueurs, or even if you don’t but want to challenge your palate and branch out with a cocktail that’s not overwhelmingly bitter, try the Midnight Smash, with Sicily’s oldest licensed spirit, Averna Amaro.

Averna, Italy’s favorite Amaro, was once considered an after-dinner digestivo (to help settle stomachs after those filling Italian meals…) and is popping up on back bars and in cocktail menus across the country. Distilled from a delicate blend of flowers, herbs, dried fruits, spices and licorice, this secret Benedictine recipe renders a complex spirit with a smooth yet firm taste to the palate and a full-bodied, bitter sweet finish. It’s tamed by the muddle blackberries and fresh Meyer lemon juice, and ginger beer adds a pleasant effervescent kick.

Midnight Smash

6 blackberries
Juice of 1 Meyer lemon, hand-squeezed
1 oz. Averna
1 oz. orange-flavored vodka
2 oz. ginger beer

Muddle blackberries in a shaker, add the juice of 1 meyer lemon, Averna, and orange-flavored vodka and shake vigorously over ice. Strain over ice in a highball glass and add ginger beer. Garnish with an orange wheel.